


There's something brewing (outside the cauldron)

by tinyarmedtrex



Series: BLM Commissions <3 [3]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: (yea right), HP AU, M/M, Ravenclaw Richie, Richie gets bullied :(, Richie has a bit of a crush, commission, he's super subtle tho, potions class sheninigans, slytherin Eddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24881062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyarmedtrex/pseuds/tinyarmedtrex
Summary: “You could ask him out.” Stan said as Richie recounted the latest Eddie news, mainly that he was waking at six in the morning to get in extra quidditch practices and that Richie had found a reason to be out there too. Eddie had to know that Richie hadn’t actually been ordered to hand wash the quidditch rings but he didn’t say anything about it, nor did he complain when Richie offered to play the opposing seeker. He wasn’t any good- in fact Eddie had probably spent more time trying to help Richie stay on his broom than actually looking for the snitch- but Eddie hadn’t complained.Much.“Stan, that wuh-would ruin the per-perfectly good thing Richie has with Eddie. Where he pines for him but nuh-never makes a move.” Bill said as he shoveled another sausage into his mouth.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: BLM Commissions <3 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1810261
Comments: 16
Kudos: 153





	There's something brewing (outside the cauldron)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Constantreaderfool](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constantreaderfool/gifts).



When he was younger Richie had thought he understood the world. Sure he was a kid and everything was easier but every new fact he learned fit in. The world was governed by science and math and everything could be figured out by using numbers and knowing the formulas. 

It made  _ sense _ . 

He liked it. Things felt easy, knowable. 

Then when he was eleven his whole world was flipped upside down- literally. He woke up on the ceiling, somehow stuck to it. It had taken no small amount of tears and gentle coaxing from his parents to get him down. The next day he got a letter from some place called Hogwarts, telling him that he was a wizard and asking him to come to join the fall class. 

Richie thought it was a joke, an elaborate prank by the neighborhood bullies, so he had ignored it, shoving it under his bed and only looking at it late at night when he was supposed to be asleep. He wanted it to be true, he wanted to be special, but he couldn’t let himself believe it. 

Until a second letter came, this one addressed to his parents, explaining the school and the supplies he needed. Surprisingly, they took it better than him. Richie liked to think it had to do with how every parent thought their child was special somehow but it probably had more to do with the fact that it explained how he never got caught sneaking ice cream or setting up elaborate pranks. 

The three of them talked and decided that Richie would try it out for a year. He had nothing to lose, he wasn’t leaving behind any close friends or fond memories in his current neighborhood. He assumed Hogwarts would be the same- bullies and jocks being the top of the pecking order and everyone else below them (assuming wizards played sports? He really had no idea how this world worked and google didn’t help).

Six years later and Richie understood most of the wizarding world. At least enough that he wasn’t constantly teased for everything he didn’t know anymore. He’d learned to stop asking why they used quills instead of pens and not to question why he still needed to wear his thick glasses when magic could set bones in a heartbeat. He’d even made a few friends. Stan, one of his housemates in the Ravenclaw boys dorms, who had seemed to hate him at first but it turned out that was just Stan’s default look. Now they were best friends, even if Stan didn’t always like to admit it, and Richie asked him about any wizarding world things that still confused him. 

His other friend was Bill, a Gyffindor who had nearly been laughed out of his house for his stutter. They had found him a week into first year, crying in the bathrooms and insisted he join their growing loser club. Eventually Stan’s boyfriend, a kind Hufflepuff named Mike, rounded out their group and the four of them were thick as thieves. 

Still, not everything was perfect.

Richie still had to deal with bullying, somehow made worse now that magic was involved. Henry, a Slytherin who was a year ahead of Richie, seemed to take offense to his very presence and went out of his way to make Richie’s life hell whenever he could. His gang liked to hide Richie’s quills, magicking them so they stuck to the ceiling of the Great Hall or making his clothes disappear in the hallways but it was worth it. Richie had friends here and magic, which had been strange and confusing at first, was finally starting to make sense. He was finally starting to understand the world again.

All of it except for Eddie Kaspbrak. 

Even after six years Richie still didn’t understand his attraction to the Slytherin seeker. It had started the first night at Hogwarts, when they were being sorted. Richie had been sitting with the other first years and watched as an even smaller Eddie walked up, glaring at the sorting hat like he was daring it to put him in the wrong house. Behind him Richie had heard murmurs about Eddie’s family, about how his dad had been a powerful auror and had died fighting dark magic. 

Richie hadn’t understood what an auror was but the hushed tones told him everything he needed to know. He’d watched as Eddie was sorted into the dark wizard’s house, which drew loud gasps from everyone around him and even more whispers from students. Richie hadn’t listened though, he was too focused on watching Eddie take off the hat and walk to his new house, his head held high.

Since that night Richie often found himself watching Eddie, craning his neck in classes to see the other boy or showing up to quidditch games where his house wasn’t even playing. Something about Eddie made Richie want his attention all the time, at any cost. It had led to some less than ideal interactions- including Richie accidentally blowing up a feather in transfiguration class or spilling tea down the back of Eddie’s robes in divination. Eddie would chew Richie out, telling him to be careful for  _ Merlin’s sake! _ But Richie never really listened. He was too focused on how anger brought out Eddie’s freckles and how cute he was when he got upset. Sometime in third year Richie had accepted he had a crush on Eddie and by fifth year he’d accepted that he didn’t have a chance with the other boy. At best Eddie tolerated him, laughing at his jokes and occasionally agreeing to study with him but nothing more. 

“You could ask him out.” Stan said as Richie recounted the latest Eddie news, mainly that he was waking at six in the morning to get in extra quidditch practices and that Richie had found a reason to be out there too. Eddie had to know that Richie hadn’t actually been ordered to hand wash the quidditch rings but he didn’t say anything about it, nor did he complain when Richie offered to play the opposing seeker. He wasn’t any good- in fact Eddie had probably spent more time trying to help Richie stay on his broom than actually looking for the snitch- but Eddie hadn’t complained. 

Much. 

“Stan, that wuh-would ruin the per-perfectly good thing Richie has with Eddie. Where he pines for him but nuh-never makes a move.” Bill said as he shoveled another sausage into his mouth.

“See! He gets it!” Richie said, slapping Bill’s back and making him choke for a second. “Sorry, Billy boy. Stan, this is a delicate operation. If I asked Eddie out it could ruin everything.” 

“Because you two have such a good thing going on.” Stan replied. “With your near stalking and his total obliviousness.” 

“Look, not all of us have it as easy as you and Mike. We can’t all fall in love in Herbology when his hand bravely covers yours to save you from an angry mandrake.” 

Stan turned bright red while Mike laughed, pulling Stan close and kissing the top of his curls. Richie loved and envied them equally. He wanted something like that but couldn’t convince himself to take that risk. Not yet at least. 

After breakfast the small group broke up, Richie heading to Advanced Potions while the others went to History of Magic or Care of Magical Creatures. Potions was Richie’s favorite class for two reasons. 

First, it was precise. Ingredients needed to be measured and added in the right order and the result was predictable. Other types of magic fluctuate depending on the caster and their mood but potions was emotionless, it stayed the same no matter what. Which meant that Richie was good at it. He could read the recipe and follow it, sometimes changing something small to improve it and earning points for his house. 

The second reason was-

“Hey, Eds!” Richie said, falling onto the stool next to Eddie and ruffling the other boy’s hair. Eddie frowned at him but didn’t complain. “How’s it going? It’s been far too long.”

“You saw me this morning.” Eddie mumbled, fixing his hair. 

“Too long!” Richie crowed, putting an arm around Eddie. “I need an hourly dose of Eds! Otherwise I start to go whacky!”

“Start?” Eddie asked, smiling slightly. 

Richie grinned back at him, nudging Eddie with his shoulder. “Eds gets off a good one.” 

Before Eddie could tell him off for the nickname their professor appeared, telling them about the potion they’d be preparing that day. Richie listened eagerly, occasionally glancing at Eddie to see the frown growing on his face. Eddie hated potions, complaining that it didn’t make sense why one wrong spoon turn could ruin the whole thing, but it was required for him. Eddie wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become an auror so he needed to pass the class. Richie admired the dedication. He had no idea what he wanted to do after Hogwarts but Eddie had been certain since day one, no matter how much his mother hated the idea. 

“Eds, look what my mum sent.” Richie said as Slughorn droned on about the history of wolfsbane. He opened his bag and pulled out the newest Deadpool comic. It was an American thing but Richie loved it and his parents always sent him the newest issues in care packages. He’d gotten Eddie hooked too, though he preferred spiderman. The two had spent many happy hours reading comics together, with Richie explaining all the background of the characters and timelines and Eddie asking why they didn’t just use magic to solve everything. 

Eddie’s eyes widened with excitement. “Brilliant! We can read them after class, maybe we can even grab that hammock that the Hufflepuffs strung up outside!” Richie’s heart quickened just from the thought of it.

“Aw, does the mistake have another muggle toy? Something to remind him of where he belongs?” Someone drawled behind him. Richie stiffened. 

Before even turning around he knew it was Henry and his goons. They shouldn’t have even been in this class but they’d failed it last year and decided to retake it, assuming it’d be easier the second time. Richie quickly scanned the room, seeing that Slughorn had left, probably to get his morning tea, and the students were alone. 

“I shouldn’t be surprised.” Henry said, his hand darting out and snatching the comic from his bag. “That the muggle born likes this. The pictures don’t move, it’s probably easier for you to read with your dumb mudblood brain.” 

“Give it back!” Richie said, leaping from his seat. He couldn't stand seeing Henry flipping through the comic, his dirty hands touching the pages before Richie’s even had. 

He lunged for Henry only to find three wands pointed at him from his minions.

“Don’t think ya should do that.” Belch muttered as Henry grinned. 

“The baby wants his toy back. Here,” Henry said, opening the comic to the first page and ripping it out, holding it in front of Richie and teasing him. “You can have this back.”

“You bloody gargoyle!” Richie leapt at him but was hit by a spell that knocked him on his ass. Henry and the others laughed as Henry ripped out another page. Richie could feel the eyes of his classmates on him, all watching and none helping. He wanted to crawl away but knew he couldn’t. That would only make it worse. He knew that. Henry had been taunting him since day one, hating that a muggleborn did better in classes than him. Usually Richie avoided him but Henry had a special sense for when there were no adults around. 

As Richie started to rise to his feet Eddie leapt up, putting himself between Henry and Richie. 

“Give it back!” He demanded, raising his own wand. Richie could see the intense expression on his face, his jaw was set and his eyes narrowed. 

Henry sneered at him. “Traitor. Are you really defending the idiot mudblood?” 

“Don’t call him that!” Eddie said, muttering a spell. The comic yanked itself from Henry’s hand and flew to Eddie’s. 

“He’s not dumb! He’s top of the class, unlike you who can’t even pass potions! And he’s brave! He doesn’t hide who he is and he stands up for himself! Unlike all of you!” Eddie said, turning to their classmates. By now everyone was watching them, potions forgotten. “None of you have half the guts of him! He’s brilliant and wonderful and all of you ignore him or worse!”

Richie was transfixed, glued to his spot on the floor. He’d seen Eddie like this a few times, ranting over quidditch or a test he failed but never over another person, especially Richie. It was a sight to see and for a second even Henry seemed shocked by it. 

Then he recovered.

“What do you know?” He asked with a sneer. “You don’t even belong in Slytherin! Both of you are misfits! You’re losers!” 

“Maybe!” Eddie screamed back. By now his face was red as his rant continued. “Maybe we are losers but at least we have each other. What do you have? Nothing! You’ll graduate and end up working in your dad’s failed shop while Richie invents new potions! He’s going to be rich and famous and you’ll be nothing.”

That seemed to cut deeper. Richie watched as Henry raised his wand, probably to curse Eddie. He was about to yell out to warn him when both their wands flew from their hands and into Slughorn’s. 

“What is going on?” He demanded, eyes flying from Henry to Eddie. “I depart for mere moments and return to my house waging a war against each other! I won’t stand for it! We must stick together!” 

“Professor-” Eddie started. 

“No! I don’t want to hear it. Richard, report to Professor Flitwick for your punishment. I will handle the rest of you.” 

Richie rose to his feet but Eddie wasn’t done. 

“He didn’t do anything!” Eddie cried, pointing at Richie. “That’s not fair! Henry stole his comic.” 

Slughorn pursed his lips, looking at the ripped pages that had fallen to the floor. “Fine. Edward walk with him and the two of you can present your case. I’ll listen to Henry’s side of the story.”

Eddie still didn’t look pleased but he grabbed his bag and stomped to the door, Richie grabbing his comic and the pages then hurrying to follow. Eddie didn’t bother to wait for him, instead walking quickly down the hallway and muttering to himself. 

“Eds, I’m sorry I got you in trouble. I didn’t mean to get you involved.” Richie said, feeling miserable. Eddie was pissed and in trouble and it was all Richie’s fault. “I’ll take the blame for it.” 

Eddie stopped so abruptly that Richie ran into him, colliding with the other boys back. Eddie turned on his heels, shocked. “I’m not mad at you!” 

“Then what-”

“I’m mad at them! You should be too! They always pick on you and you don’t deserve it! You’re smart, brilliant even, and you’re clever, you can solve any puzzle that’s presented to you, and you’re quick witted, none of them could ever keep up with you. It’s just because you’re muggle born that they hate you and that’s ridiculous! You’re smarter than them but they only care about your parents and the fact that they’re dentalists!”

“Dentists.” He said, too stunned to say anything else. Eddie was clearly pissed but he was only saying nice things about Richie. The contrast was stunning and confusing. “Eds-”

“No, Richie! You’re nice too! You’re always willing to listen to me rant about quidditch even though I know you don’t care! And you helped Bill ask Audora out. You dressed as cupid for god’s sake! It was ridiculous but you did it because you’re such a good friend!”

Richie was blushing now. He couldn’t believe that Eddie knew about that, he hadn’t even been there for Richie’s flying diaper incident. Eddie kept recounting all his good deeds, barely even stopping for a breath, and for the first time it occurred to Richie that maybe Stan was right, maybe Richie’s feelings weren’t so one sided. 

So he did the only thing he could think of to get Eddie to stop talking and listen. He leaned in, pressing his lips to Eddie’s as he took a breath.

It wasn’t a great kiss. 

Eddie was still ranting so his mouth was open and Richie only got his top lip and teeth. But it worked. It stopped Eddie dead in his tracks. For a second they just stared at each other and then regret started to seep in. 

“Sorry Eds, maybe I shouldn’t have- that wasn’t-”

But again Eddie didn’t let him apologize. Instead he pushed Richie against the wall and kissed him again, tilting his head so this time their lips met perfectly. 

“Bloody hell, Eds,” Richie said once they parted. He felt dumbstruck, staring down at the shorter boy. 

“I’ve been waiting for you to do that since second year.” Eddie said, looking embarrassed but determined. 

“Then I won’t keep you waiting.” Richie said, cupping Eddie’s cheek and kissing him again. Eddie melted into it, letting out a soft moan that made Richie’s heart do several flips. He wanted to hear that noise for the rest of his life. 

“I finally found your off switch, huh?” He joked as they parted again, refusing to let things slip into an awkward silence. “Maybe next time I can find your on switch.” 

He added an obnoxious wink at the end, still worried that Eddie was going to change his mind and run. All of this seemed too good to be true. Richie wasn’t this lucky. 

Eddie flushed but rolled his eyes. “Beep beep, Richie. That’s a gross thing for my boyfriend to say.” 

“Does this mean- are we dating?” Richie asked, stunned. 

Eddie took his hand, intertwining their fingers together. “We bloody well better be.” 

“Brilliant.” He leaned in and kissed Eddie again. 

Richie wanted nothing more than to stay there with Eddie but he knew they needed to get to Flitwick before they got in more trouble. The two started walking again when the Headmistress appeared, strolling down the hallway in her elegant robes. Richie had a sneaking suspicion she had heard their whole conversation.

“Boys, I heard about your tiff in potions.” She said, stopping in front of them. Richie wasn’t even surprised, McGongall seemed to know things far before anyone else. 

“It wasn’t us!” Eddie jumped in. “It was Henry! He tore Richie’s comic!” Eddie grabbed the comic from his bag, thrusting the evidence at her. 

Her eyes dropped down to look at it, and at the unattached pages.

“Pity.” Raising her wand she tapped the page, instantly mending the comic.

“Can’t have that, I need to know what happens to our hero.” She said, smiling at them as she passed the comic back. Eddie gaped and Richie grinned. McGongall may not admit it to many people but she loved comics as much as he did. She’d found him reading them alone in a tower during his first year and had sat with him, listening as he animatedly explained why Deadpool was the best. Ever since she’d asked to borrow them when he was done.

“And don’t worry about Mr. Bowers. I’ll handle his punishment. We have some slugs that need to be dewormed.” McGongall glanced at them, her eyes lingering on their joined hands. “You two ought to be on your way.”

“Back to class?” Eddie asked. 

She shook her head. “There’s no reason to go back, the class will have ended by the time you return. I would suggest finding a spot outside and enjoying the spring weather. 

Richie grinned at her. “You’re the best.”

She gave him a little shrug as if to say ‘I have no idea what you mean’ before continuing down the hallway, humming to herself. Richie watched her go before turning back to Eddie. 

“We better do as she said. Don’t want to go against orders.” 

Eddie grinned back at him, nodding eagerly. “Couldn’t agree more.” 

The two walked outside and Richie decided that the world made a little more sense when Eddie’s hand was in his. 

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone in this is trans. Fuck you JK Rowling. 
> 
> A wonderful commission from Holly! Always happy to write a HP AU <3


End file.
